Volume 2: The Underground
by Nafa-tali
Summary: Kair has been given a new assignment to infiltrate rival gangs to further Giovanni's latest venture. But when she stumbles on a new plan to harvest the DNA of Mew, the very chords that hold the daughter of Giovanni together begin to unravel...
1. A New Assignment

**Author's Note: **Hey all! Just letting you know that if you're interested I have some associated fan art on my DeivantArt acct. The link is in my profile.

Enjoy Volume 2! :)

* * *

**Volume 2**

**The Underground**

* * *

The car rumbled on through the forests, breaking up what would have been a pleasant, silent morning. I gazed through a partly open window, letting the wind of the ride rush over my face and through my hair. Green and trees were all that I saw for miles on end. Where I was? I had no idea. All I knew was that this was going to be my new assignment.

We passed trainers on the side of the road who each in turn stopped to glance at us and let us pass before continuing. And for the first time in a very long time I wished I could be one of them. To have that freedom to come and go as I pleased.

I tugged at my black gloves, brushing Persian fur from my uniform that insisted on sticking to me. We pulled up into an old, dirt driveway and stoped just outside of what looked to be a holiday cabin of sorts.

Stepping from the car, I squinted in the morning sunlight and pulled my black hat down over my eyes. All black with the exception of a red R on my chest, it was obvious who I represented. Not so obvious who I really was to those of my rank, however.

But that was what he had wanted.

The Boss.

He wanted me to start again from the bottom. For me to see how hard it was to prove myself in this organisation.

My name is Kair Yu. Not my real name, but the one that I chose for myself. And I was just about to learn the hard way, how to win back my father's approval….

A small gaggle of rockets was waiting for us in the cabin, including a woman who I immediately recognised from the HR department. She looked impatient as she tapped a finger on an orange envelope, no doubt meant for me.

"Finally! You're here," she let out an exasperated huff.

I took at seat at the kitchen table in front of her, looking this way and that.

"Wherever 'here' happens to be," I muttered.

Ignoring my response, she slid the envelope over to me which I eagerly opened, hoping for it to shed some light on the situation. I read from the orders written in Giovanni's own handwriting, only to stop suddenly.

"I'm being assigned a partner?"

Wendy from HR nodded, her green hair bouncing in front of her face, her grin menacing. "I guess daddy feels the need for someone to keep an eye on you after your last endeavour," she snickered like I was the butt of a joke I hadn't gotten yet. "Good luck!"

She pulled herself to her feet and walked out followed by her friends.

I sat alone in the cabin, bringing up the file of the person I was being assigned to, then cursed. This had to be a joke…

The careful knock at the door confirmed that indeed, it wasn't. She stood in the doorway, tall and elegant. Long magenta hair and eyes of determination, she entered and for moments nighter of us uttered a word.

"Jessie," I finally said.

"Kair," she nodded.

* * *

"So what happened to James?" I sat back on our cabin couch which I found we were sharing as our base of operations.

Jessie followed suit, gently crossing her legs, and tugged at her skirt. The normally firey Rocket was the quietest I had ever seen her.

"We got assigned new partners," she said sullenly and I was sure she was just about to burst into tears.

"That sucks." I nodded.

She just looked at me, toying with a ringlet of her hair. "So what is our new assignment?"

I grabbed the envelope and handed it to her. "We're infiltrating Team Aqua. It seems that they've gotten their hands on something that is of much interest to the Boss."

"So, we're going under cover?"

"Yup. I found our new uniforms in one of the bedrooms-."

She was on her feet before I even got to finish my sentence. Storming into the nearest bedroom, I needed wait only a few minutes before hearing her ear-splitting scream.

"He can't be serious!" Jessie burst from the bedroom, holding up one of the uniforms, a glare of disgust blatant on her face. "These… things…. will make us look like we just escaped from prison!"

Blue pants with a black and white striped t-shirt and a blue bandana bearing the Team Aqua logo- it was obvious not much thought had gone into the process.

Regardless, Jessie looked determined. Quickly grabbing her duffle bag, she rummaged through it before finding a small box. I watched with intrigue as she pulled a pair of scissors from the box and proceeded to dissect the pants.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Giving this piece of crap uniform some Jessie flair!" she retaliated, whipping a needle and thread from her box, "and giving this stupid Team Aqua a lesson in style."


	2. Welcome to Team Aqua

**Welcome to Team Aqua**

* * *

The old dock was busy and bustling even at this hour of the morning. The sun was only just beginning to rise over the mountains, greeting the day with a sky of orange and blue. The chill of the morning blew over our shoulders, bringing with it the salty spray of the sea and the strong stench of fish.

Everywhere around us fishing boats unloaded their catches from the previous evening. Jessie and I were greeted by the hoots and yells of burly, hairy men, the stench of fish and salt now a permanent feature on their clothes and bodies.

Ignoring the workers, we continued on, eventually coming across a large shed at the end of the dock.

"Is that it?" Jessie shivered in her mini-skirt and a t-shirt that barely covered her important parts and I nodded.

The shed was actually more a storehouse, not unlike the ones my father owned. However, this one was double story and had a huge radio antennae sticking out of its roof. Team Aqua's local headquarters.

On the inside, it was not as vast and wide. It seemed to be made up of many rooms and hallways like an office building. We were even greeted by a friendly face at the reception counter with the words 'Marine Research Centre' behind her head.

"Hi there, how can I help you?"

I made my way to the counter. This had to be some kind of cover. "We have an appointment," I mentioned with a low tone, "with Archie."

The girl nodded, tapping on her computer for a few moments, she glanced from me to Jessie then back to her screen, obviously doing a facial analysis. She then turned to a filing cabinet and grabbed a folder.

"Archie isn't around. But he asked me to give you this. It's your first assignment." She handed me the folder. "Don't mess it up."

She indicated that our presence was no longer required.

We trailed from the building with Jessie muttering under her breath something about the woman and female dogs. I ripped open the envelope to see what our first assignment was.

"So, what are we doing?" Jessie peered over my shoulder.

An amused smirk made its way across my face. "We're breaking into the International University Lab dept. and stealing samples."

Jessie pulled back, registering the information in her head before it clicked. "Aren't they…?"

"Owned by Team Rocket, yes."

She pulled back. "We can't steal from our own team-."

"Shhh!" I hissed, cutting her off and pulling her out of earshot of anyone who might have been within hearing distance. "We'll do what it takes to fit in, got it?"

She got the hint.

"We're not expected to make the raid until midnight tonight. So in the meantime, I guess it would be a good idea to acquaint ourselves with some Team Aqua inspired Pokémon. How are you going in the water-type field?"

Jessie's look wasn't promising. "If by water you actually mean poison types…"

"I figured." I nodded. "Come on… let's go fishing."

Making our way back through the dock, we located a rickety old fishing trawl that didn't seem to be inhabited at that point and snuck on board. The boat, like the rest of the port reeked of fish with a definite mixture of diesel. And it was a mess of blankets, clothes and food wrappers; indicating that this was also someone's home.

"What are we doing here?" with a gloved finger to her nose, Jessie squinted. She kicked at the mess with a boot.

I frowned, pushing aside boxes and crates until I found what I was looking for. A large container sat on the deck, so heavy that it was impossible to move. I could hear the splash of water and the bump of a figure drifting about in it. A single padlock kept it shut.

"Jessie," I gave her the signal and she crouched, pulling pins from her hair and used them to pick the lock.

The lock snapped open with ease and she pushed away the lid to reveal a large, scaly fish that drifted about in it. Blue, yellow and red, it was covered in spines and looked dangerous. A Pokémon perfect for a trainer, not a dinner plate.

"Oh!" Jessie's eyes immediately lit up. "It's positively perfect!"

I pulled my old pokédex from my uniform and scanned the creature. "Carvanha," the dex chirped. "This water-dark type Pokémon attacks ships in swarms, making them sink. Although it is said to be a very vicious Pokémon, it timidly flees as soon as it finds itself alone."

I caught Jessie's smirk at the corner of my eye.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," she mused.

I scowled. "What?"

"It's just that only twerpy trainers carry around instruments like that. You just don't seem the type of person to be holding one of those."

I put the dex away, blushing. "Shut up. It comes in handy." I pulled a lure ball from my belt and handed it to Jessie. "He is all yours."

She looked at me like I was stupid. "Aren't we supposed to weaken it first?"

I snorted. "What are we going to do? Beat it with a stick? By the looks of it, it spent the entire night in that container. I'd say it was weak enough."

Jessie shrugged, following my instructions and sucked it up into the ball. The ball blinked once, twice and locked.

"Perfect," she grinned, but the moment was short lived as suddenly the large shadow bore down over us.

"Hey!" the huge sailor spun us on our feet. Tattoos covered his arms and he reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke. "What do you kids think you're doing?" He also seemed to lack teeth.

"I…uhhh," Jessie stammered as we backed into one another. "Run!"


	3. Skeletons

**Skeletons**

* * *

The chilly breeze of the evening rattled its way up my spine, leaving me freezing and numb. I shivered, pressing my body up against the laboratory wing of the local University, waiting for the security guard to make his rounds.

"Ready?" I glimpsed Jessie in the limited moonlight. Clouds hovered over us, casting eerie shadows over the building.

Jessie nodded, too feeling the cold.

"…because we all live, in a Pokémon world!" The guard passed us by, blaring a song from his iPod out of tune. He looked young enough to be a student and clearly didn't care much for his job.

I let Jessie pick the lock and we slipped into to the building, making our way down the hall to our allocated practical room. Identical benches lined its main parts, piled high with pitchers, burners and other expensive laboratory equipment. All paid for from the hand of Team Rocket. It almost made me wonder why my father would bother sponsoring such a place so far away from headquarters.

"Where is the sample freezer?" I questioned and Jessie checked the instructions.

She pointed to a door leading into a preparation room.

"Ok, you watch for our Security Guard friend. I'm gonna get the samples."

I left Jessie and found my way to a small bench fridge labelled 'Pokémon DNA samples' and helped myself to the bounty. I was almost finished stuffing my duffle bad when the commotion started.

"Hey you! What are you doing in here?" the shout caught me off guard and made me reel.

"What does it look like, punk? We're robbing the place," Jessie's shrill came next.

"Shit!" I cursed, immediately pulling away from the light of the fridge into the shadows. What was she thinking?

With my back to the wall, I edged myself over to the door to the main lab only to find Jessie and the security guard at a standoff. He held a flashlight in one hand and a pokéball in the other.

"Poochyena!" The dog formed on the floor in front of her, snarling. "Take down! Get that thief!"

"Ahhh!" Jessie's first instinct was to scream. She whipped around, taking a dive for one of the benches and threw herself over it, taking its supplies along with it.

Glass smashed all around her.

"Rwhhh!" The Poochyena's paws skidded on the tiled flooring.

"Feraligator! Go!" Stepping from the shadows, I threw my pokéball at the dog and my gator burst forth in a roaring frenzy. "Bite!"

The gator launched at the Poochyena, jaws snapping. The dog skidded, tucking its hind legs in and barely avoided the Feraligator's chomp. It ducked in behind one of the benches but Feraligator took chase, his huge, hulking body and tail taking out what remained on the benches.

I made a dive for Jessie but the security guard quickly cottoned onto the fact and beat me to her, wrenching her to her feet and holding a taser to her throat.

"One more move and she gets it!" he shouted, making me stop in my tracks.

I straightened. "Or she gets what? Tasered?" I pulled my other Pokéball from my belt, fingering the release button. "Do you know what I have stashed away in this ball?" I signalled to my Feraligator who had since made short work of his Poochyena. "Trust me, it's far scarier than my gator friend. And it won't hesitate to attack a Human."

The security guard fidgeted, his eyes darting this way and that. He wanted to believe that I was bluffing but soon figured his job really wasn't worth that much to him. It was just as well too, the ball was empty. I'd chosen to bring only one Pokémon with me.

He let Jessie go and I recalled my Feraligator, clipping both pokéballs back to my belt. Grabbing Jessie by the arm, we quickly made our escape.

* * *

Our mission had been a success and we delivered what we stole to our 'new boss', Archie. The man, perhaps in his late thirties, grunted at us from his fishing trawl, watching us with hungry eyes. He didn't say much else, simply allowing his assistant to give us our next assignment.

As time passed and assignments went fulfilled, we were soon given privilege to more and more information. Information that, in the evenings, I was to report back to Team Rocket.

It seemed that genetic research was the talk of the region, scientists from all around getting ever more excited about the prospect of being the first to discover the source of Pokémon power - the elements within them that gave them their special abilities.

And harvesting those abilities seemed to be the talk of the underground world.

"That is interesting." Giovanni stroked his Persian. "They are further along than I had expected."

I waited in silence, watching his image on the computer screen.

"Has he started to assemble a research team yet?"

I shrugged, "I'm not sure, we're not high enough in the ranks to receive that kind of information. And don't bother ordering us to break into the warehouse, there's nothing there. If Archie has such a program in action, then that sort of information is well hidden."

He looked visibly disappointed. "And what of your next assignment?"

I pulled the paperwork from my backpack, the folder had an 'archives' stamp over top of a dusty red R logo.

"It seems you've got a mole in archives. I'm apparently undertaking an old Team Rocket mission that was abandoned some twenty two years ago."

"Twenty two years?" a hand went to his chin in thought before he stopped, his eyes scrunching. "The only major expedition that was underway at that time was in the Andes Mountains. From my knowledge, the team was completely wiped out and the mission declared a failure."

"Well there had to be something there that grabbed Team Rocket's attention." I refuted. "What was there?"

"That information is classified."

I scoffed, waving the file, "not anymore."

His eyes went dark only confirming the fact that I was in the process of unearthing something that he didn't want brought up again.

"There is a CD here, do you want me to play it?" I continued.

"No, that won't be necessary. I know what's on that CD," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Take the assignment, Team Aqua is only digging up a dead end. But it'll keep them distracted for a while. Be warned though, that is a very dangerous assignment. I'm sending over some agents to help you. If you find anything, report straight back to me," and with that he closed the line and the transmission ended.

"What are our orders?" rubbing a towel through her long, drenched hair, Jessie stepped from the bathroom on her way to her bedroom.

I slowly sorted through the old file, humming to myself. I popped the CD into the computer, finding only a single voice recording on it. It came out as static at first, like it had originally been recorded on an old tape and then later transferred to the CD.

But just as I was about to shut it off, a single, little voice piped. "Mew!"


	4. Ghosts from the past

**Ghosts from the past**

* * *

Afternoon soon drew on to evening, it was our day off which was spent doing close to nothing. Jessie sat on the couch, brushing her hair and watching her soap operas on T.V while I took up the kitchen. Sitting at the kitchen table, I tapped mindlessly at my laptop. The screen displayed satellite images of the Andes Mountains which I examined carefully.

So the loud knock at the door caught me off guard and made me jump upright. I cursed, spilling my coffee on my jeans and pulled away from the table. I ambled over to the front door, glimpsing a shadowy figure through the peephole. He fidgeted nervously and looked this way and that. It was hard to tell who it was beneath the hoodie he wore; a hoodie that contained interesting looking 'horns'.

I opened the door, facing the Team Magma agent and the agent glimpsed me, his hand in the air as I caught him in mid-knock and he almost stumbled backwards.

"James?"

The young agent fixed himself. "The Boss sent us to help you on your latest mission."

"James!" From behind me, Jessie leapt upright, pushing me out the door and dove into his arms.

I let the two reunite, only just spotting the other figure who carefully stepped out of the car. With a rucksack slung over one shoulder, his stride was careful and calculated.

My eyes immediately scrunched. "Lance?"

He stopped in his tracks, our glances meeting from across the footpath.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

He raised an eyebrow. "I should ask the same about you."

My lip curled. "Are you here to arrest me?"

But he smirked, stepping up to me, "have you done anything illegal?"

My mouth snapped shut. "One phone call is all it will take to expose yo-."

A quick snap of his hand was all it took for him to shut me up as he grabbed my face between his forefinger and thumb and caused my mouth to form 'fish lips'. "But you're not going to do that, are you?"

I pulled back, batting his hand away and glaring him in the eye. "What are you doing here, Lance?"

"Don't worry," he kept his cool. "I'm actually under cover to investigate Team Magma. It just so happens that I came across Team Rocket's act while I was at it. Your blue haired friend sometimes doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut."

I followed Lance's glimpse over my shoulder and watched the former Team Rocket pair dance around the lounge room together. "My father said he was sending over a couple of agents, if you're not who he originally sent with James then who-."

As always, the Dragon Master was already two steps ahead of me. He tossed me a pokéball before continuing on past me into the cabin. The pokéball was black with a red letter R and deep claw marks close to the opening.

I pressed the button, watching the red light form into the figure of the Pokémon it held.

I heard him before I saw him. "What doya think you can pull? I didn' wanna be in there! How dare yo-." the badmouthed Meowth paused mid-sentence and blinked to take in his surroundings.

He saw that I was the only one there. I could only heave a sigh, stepping back into the cabin and slamming the door in his face.

* * *

"So, Team Magma got a whiff of this whole 'source of Pokémon power' research too, did they?" Jessie's eyes scanned the newcomers in their red uniforms.

The five of us stood around the kitchen table which was now covered in files and mission briefings.

"Yes," confirmed Lance, "Maxie found out about Archie's little mission to the Andes. He wants to beat him to it."

I hummed, rubbing my chin. Indeed, what was so important about this old Team Rocket mission?

James lent over, pulling another file from his bag, this one too bearing the Team Rocket insignia beneath a stamped 'Archives'. He brushed a lock of hair from his eyes, flicking through its pages. "It turns out someone in the underground is selling this data to the highest bidder. It's a good thing we managed to get this stuff back. Who knows what other Team Rocket secrets are being soled on the black market."

I grunted, "Don't worry I'm sure it's all being taken care of as we speak. I pity the sorry fool who tries to cross the Boss."

"Don't you mean your father?" James corrected me.

"Whatever," I ripped the file from his gloved hands.

This one, unlike the one Archie had given me, was much thicker. It actually contained notes about the previous mission that Team Rocket had undertaken. It seemed they were looking for a long lost Pokémon called 'Mew'. A legendary Pokémon. The mission was headed by a woman by the name of Zerelda Miyamoto.

The photo slipped from my hands and landed neatly on the table; a photo of this woman with a little girl… a little girl whose older likeness paled suddenly. Her eyes widened and her face went as white as a sheet.

"Legendaries," Jessie grabbed the photo from the table, stuttering. "That… that's me!"

And before anyone could even consider the fact, she'd ripped the folder from my hands and tore off into her bedroom. No one moved. Like dumb Magikarp we all just stared at one another, our mouths gaping open.

"Jessie?" James was the one to break the silence as he dashed off after his friend, closely followed by the rest of us. "Jessie, are you ok?" He bashed on her door.

We burst into Jessie's bedroom only to find her curled up on her bed with a pillow, the offending folder and photo staring at her from the end of the bed. James dashed to her side, pulling her into a hug as Lance plucked the file from the bed.

I grabbed it from his hands, pointing accusingly at the file. "Who is this, Jessie?"

The room fell silent, all eyes watching the woman as she resisted her sobbing. She whispered with a small voice. "That is my mother."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I know that Jessie's mum's name is actually Miyamoto but since I am using the US translations of the character names and they never translated Miyamoto's name (since her story never appeared in the English dub), I decided I needed to make my own translation.

Since Jessie and James originated from the famous outlaw 'Jessie James', I decided to use the name of his mother; Zerelda. I actually found the meaning of the name suits the character pretty well, since she was apparently an ambitious woman and pretty similar to Jessie.


	5. A change of plans

**A change of plans**

* * *

_The old fishing trawl struggled its way on through choppy seas consisting of waves seemingly bent on swallowing it whole. The evening was stormy and the wind icy._

_Still though, the trawl pushed its way on, ever faithful to he that steered it. _

_Archie gripped the wheel, barely cringing at the grim scene ahead. Ocean spray and rain battered at the windscreen and the boat rocked this way and that. _

_But Archie was born of the sea, this was his home. And when the sea wanted to show its strength, he was there to experience it full force. Unfortunately though, not everyone aboard his vessel held the same sentiment. _

"_Archie," the young redhead stepped into his cabin, gripping the rail for support. "There is a call waiting on the line for you."_

_A grunt was the only response she got._

"_Captain?"_

"_Can't you see I'm busy, Shelly?" _

_She pulled back at his rough shout, noting that he was visibly irritated. "It's important." She tugged at the collar of her shirt, choosing not to stand down to him. "It's Maxie of Team Magma."_

"_Alright, I've got it." Archie waited until the woman was gone before flicking a switch on his compartment. In an instant, the holographic face appeared on his windshield that now acted as a monitor for their telephone conversation. _

"_This better be important," the sailor grunted. _

_The Aqua Captain's rival sat at a large desk, his beady eyes and thin lips pressed into a leer. His hands were gently clasped and rested on the table in front of him. _

"_Its done, the Rockets are off on their latest assignment. They've got no idea of the suicide mission we're sending them on. Team Rocket isn't the only one who has already lost people on this expedition. It makes me wonder why Giovanni is bothering letting them go."_

_Archie grunted, giving a snarl. "Because the expedition is on my dime that's why. Besides, it's possible he knows something that we don't."_

_Team Magma's leader didn't seem all too impressed however. "What if they don't find anything?... which is probable."_

_Archie shrugged, "then the elements will take care of them. Just as long as it gets those infiltrators off my back."_

"_And if they return?" inquired Maxie. _

"_We'll just have to take matters into our own hands."_

_Still, Maxie didn't seem convinced as he scratched the side of his head, coughing impatiently. "I don't care much for the others, but I want Yu alive."_

_His statement stopped Archie in his tracks, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at his rival. "What's so important about her?"_

_Maxie chose not to comment, merely attempting to move the conversation along, but they had been friends once and Archie knew when Maxie was hiding something. _

"_We had a deal Maxie. We're working together to eradicate Team Rocket's influence from Hoenn once and for all." He waved a threatening finger, "If I find you're taking certain liberties-" _

"_She is Giovanni's daughter," Maxie finally burst. "Meaning that she would be useless to us dead."_

* * *

The plane's engines blared loudly in my ear as we were jolted this way and that. A contrast to the luxury jets and helicopters I was used to, the cargo carrier was old and lacked any form of insulation. The five of us sat on stools around a large crate, a single torch the only thing that shed light onto the situation.

James beside me shivered, shifting on his seat, his teeth chattering. "Its…f..f….freezing!"

Jessie cast him an angry glare. "If you can't handle this then how are you going to cope on the mountain?"

She went to hit him in the back of the head but Lance stopped her by grabbing her arm and letting it rest back in her lap. "Back to the exercise, please." he gave an exasperated huff, his patience wearing thin at the constant banter between the two.

I hardly took my eyes off the chart that I studied, comparing this with the writings from Miyamoto's journal. "According to Zerelda, it wasn't until they reached the Alpamayo mountain peak in Peru that they started to find the trail of this Pokémon they were looking for. Mew."

"What's important about this Mew creature anyhow?" James scratched his head.

"I don't know," I admitted, shrugging. "According to the journal, this particular Pokémon is said to hold the DNA of all other types, but apart from that, I really don't know of its purpose in the whole scheme of things."

Lance, who had been quietly studying beside me, frowned like he'd just had an epiphany. "Archie's information is out of date. They didn't find the Mew fossil in the mountain range. They found it in the rainforest at its foot. The Amazon. Your father was right, Kair, Archie is sending us on a wild Farfetch'd chase. We should be looking in that rainforest basin."

All eyes fell on the Dragon master.

"Who found the Mew fossil?" Meowth asked the question that was on all of our lips.

Lance tapped a finger on the map. "I don't expect you kids to remember, but several years ago, a group of well known scientists underwent an expedition to explore said forests to discover new Pokémon species. They stumbled upon a strange fossil and brought it back to Kanto. It was thought to be Mew. But little else is known about the expedition because it was financed by Team Rocket." Lance cast me a dark stare, "From what I heard, your father was delving into cloning experiments."

I copied his glare. "So you're saying we need to head into the Amazon, not the mountains?"

"But our ordres-." refuted James but was cut off by Lance.

"Are wrong."

I nodded, following Lance's train of thought, "When we arrive in Peru, ditch our snow gear. We're heading into the Amazon."


	6. Amazon

**Amazon**

* * *

"_Archie."_

_The Team Aqua Captain jumped at Shelly's entrance and quickly spun in his chair._

_The woman had a look of urgency on her face as she stepped into his office and handed him the readout of a GPS locater. "It's the crew you sent to the Andes. They're off course. Way off course."_

_With a hand to his chin, he examined the readout, leaning back in his chair. Behind him, the blinds where half closed, obstructing the view of a beautiful sunset over the harbour. A smile slowly made its way across the sailor's stubble ridden face. Oh yes, his suspicions had been confirmed. Team Rocket did know something he didn't, but not for long. Because whether they knew it or not, they were going to lead him right to it. _

"_Gather a team together to intersect. We're going to pay them a surprise visit."_

* * *

The sun lazily set over the Amazon jungle, casting long and dark shadows over the river that we slowly drifted along. Letting the currents take us, the old wooden boat travelled with its engine turned off for the moment, leaving only the ambience of the jungle to fill the air.

Though, despite the setting sun after a long day, the heat still seemed to linger. The humidity was so thick that one could figuratively carve it with a knife.

The jungle itself was a beautiful mass of tropical greens and browns with steam rising from the treetops. Birds sung their final songs before settling for the evening and great bugs began to emerge from hiding. Occasionally, we saw the flash of a critter such as a Mankey swinging in the trees.

I watched my team mates either lounging around the deck or examining maps and charts. James had a dreamy look on his face as he steered the boat, daydreaming about big promotions and the like, no doubt.

I spied Jessie sitting to one side, kicking her feet over the edge of the boat and watching the murky water below. She picked at the wood beneath her hands, and then tugged at her hair, occasionally catching glimpses with a postcard of the snow-capped mountains she'd swiped from the airport days before.

Noticing my approach, she put the postcard away in her pocket, heaving a defeated sigh and I realized right then what was on her mind.

"You're thinking of your mother, aren't you?" I stated as a matter-of-factly.

The redhead nodded sullenly, wiping away a stray tear. "I sometimes pretend that she is still out there somewhere. And that one day she will come home."

"Jessie," I swallowed, suddenly unsure how to handle matters. "The chances of her survi-."

"I'm sure she is in a better place now, Jessie." Lance appeared from behind us, swooping down and cutting me off mid-sentence. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder that seemed to get a small smile from her.

"I hope so," she whispered.

Lance then turned his attention to me, signalling me to the cabin. I followed him below the deck to the kitchenette table that had since turned into a navigation post.

"According to the readout, we've just entered into a National Park. It's a conservation area."

I blinked. "And…?"

Lance looked irritated. "Meaning that we can't take anything out of it. It's all protected - the wildlife and whatever else we may find."

"Pssh," I scoffed. "You join a criminal group bent on thievery and then tell us we can't take anything? We can't exactly go back empty handed, Lance."

"Researchers spend years and lots of money trying to obtain the correct permits that allow them to do their research here. You can't expect that we can just barge right in, find something and then take it without suffering the consequences."

The jolt brought our argument to a sudden stop and I found myself tumbling forward and into the arms of the Dragon Master.

Lance caught me, stumbling back into the wall behind him.

"James!" quickly pulling myself to my feet, I tore up the stairs to the deck. "What was that?"

The blue haired Rocket seemed just as dumbfounded. "I don't know."

That was when I realised we weren't moving anymore. "Why are we stopped?"

Again, James had no real reason to offer. "Maybe we're caught in some reeds or something?" he scratched his head, attempting to tug at the wheel but it did nothing.

He tried starting the engine, but it was dead.

THUMP!

We rocked again as the feeling of something large and hard bumped up against us.

Everyone automatically gripped onto something secure.

"Uhhh! Guys…" Jessie was suddenly on her feet, staring down at the murky water. "I don't think we're alone!"

I caught the last glimpses of something large and blue before it submerged. The five of us just stood, backing up into each other, eyes darting in every direction. We weren't even prepared for what happened next. It all happened so fast that it was just one big blur. One minute we stood and then the next, the floor of the boat came rushing up to meet us, everyone tumbling over in a mass of arms and legs. In a single, gigantic motion, the boat capsized, sending us flying into the water.

"Ahhhh!" Screams were drowned out by the almighty splash, and suddenly I was under. My mouth and lungs filling with water, my eyes seeing nothing but the murky darkness that was the Amazon river.

I struggled to get to the surface, coughing and spluttering. Meowth came up next to me, choking and splashing about like a Magikarp.

"Heeelp me! Help meee!" he screamed before spotting me.

I didn't even get the chance to object as his claws dug into my arms and shoulders and he clambered onto my head. A Carvanha surfaced not far from us, carrying its master, Jessie on its back. Her arms were already sore and bleeding from its rough skin. Each of us scrambled for the shore, helping one another up the slippery slope.

"What was that?" James panted, ringing out his hair and clothes before slipping in the mud and landing on his butt.

I shivered as the uneasy chill rattled its way down my spine. By now the sun was gone and it was almost pitch black. I could barely make out the figures of my fellow team mates.

"I don't know," I said. "But it was big."

Dabbing at her wounds, Jessie gave a sickened look. "All of our stuff was on that boat."

"And is now on the bottom of the river," James finished.

Jessie sniffed, pulling her Carvanha's pokéball. "Carvanha retur-." she went to say when all of a sudden it found itself sucked under the water.

She stopped. "Carvanha? Carvanha!"

We each watched the spot it had vanished from, only noticing the large shadow that made its way ever closer to us. A shadow large enough to have capsized the boat.

"Jessie," I grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the water's edge. "That's probably not such a good idea."

"HURRRRHHH!" All I saw was the mighty splash of water and the flashing of giant teeth.

"Monster!" a squeal reminiscent of that of a little girl erupted from James which sent us into a backwards stagger. And right there on the shoreline landed a wild Feraligator, snarling, jaws snapping.

I knew that look. He was hungry.

We didn't think twice about it, we turned and bolted into the jungle.

TWHUMP! TWHUMP! TWHUMP! The giant Pokémon was right behind us, tearing up vines and trees like paper that we'd only just struggled to get through. "HURRRHH!"

It was a blind dash, my eyes not even comprehending the trees until they were right in front of my face. Meowth clawed at my shoulders, hanging onto me for dear life.

"Split up!" I vaguely heard a call.

What was once four running figures split and turned into just me running alone. Me alone with a giant Feraligator still hot on my tail.

"He's gaining on us!" Meowth wailed, his tail barely escaping the snap of the monster's jaws.

I didn't even see the tree root. My boot hooked onto it and sent me flying into the ground. The shadow of the monster appeared on top of me and I rolled, barely avoiding the swipe of its massive claw. I kicked at the ground, attempting to struggle my way to my feet, but only found myself entangled in a mass of tree roots and vines.

I couldn't escape the full force of the giant Feraligator's swipe.

"Ahhh!" I howled, flying into the air only to hit the ground meters from where the monster stood, it's snarling, hissing, snapping jaws filling my vision.

"HURRRHHH!" Another, familiar growl sounded just behind me. Another giant, blue blur slammed into the creature, tackling it to the ground. "HURRRHHH!" My own Feraligator stood over me, jaws snapping.

I barely got the chance to scoot out of the way before in a single dash, he went for the wild one, teeth and claws flashing. He attacked it head on, the force of his cut attack enough to take out an entire tree.

"HURRRHHH!" The Feraligator from the river reeled, its bite snapping at mine.

By my gator had been in enough battles to see it coming and twisted, the full force of its tail taking effect on the enemy Feralitator's gut. The Feraligator keeled, hitting a tree and making the entire ground shake. It hit the dirt, fainting with a single grunt.

I could only sit there, watching, panting, only allowing myself to spy Meowth to my side, staring with his eyes and mouth open wide. In his hands he held one of my Pokéballs that had obviously fallen from my belt. He'd released the Feraligator and thus saved my life.


	7. Top Cat

**Top Cat**

* * *

Still dazed, I hesitantly pulled myself to my feet, casting a bemused glance over at my small Pokémon companion.

"Thanks," I admitted.

Meowth seemed just as stunned as it took me to pry the pokéball from his claws.

I recalled my Feraligator, wiping mud from my face with a dirty sleeve. By now, the jungle was pitch black and the sounds of the night were the only things to be heard for miles. I had no idea where the others were, but I was sure we weren't alone either.

Stepping over tree roots and small shrubs, I pushed my way further into the jungle with Meowth hot on my ankles.

"What'll we do, Kair?" he sounded apprehensive as he made a point of keeping one paw gently on my calf at all times. His head snapped around at every sound he heard.

I stopped, heaving a sigh and letting my eyes trail up the trunk of a large tree. "I guess we have no choice but to set up camp for the night and search in the morning."

"Can we release your Feraligator? You know… to make sure we don't get eaten or nuttn'?"

I smirked, lifting the cat from the ground and held him up by the armpits. "What's the matter, Meowth? You're not scared are you?"

"Me? Never!" the talking Pokémon scoffed.

"Good, you can go check the top of the tree for any dangers then." Before he even had the chance to protest, I tossed him high into the tree branches, relying on the fact that instinct would kick in and he use his claws to catch something.

"YEAAHHHHH!" he vanished into the tree, so only the light thud of Pokémon meeting branch confirmed to me that he had landed.

My eyes searched the dark shadows above me, listening to him carry on about my little stunt until he could confirm that we were, in fact, alone. Grabbing at the trunk and bottom branch, I clambered up after him, following the sounds of his mindless chatter to a somewhat sheltered and wide branch. Using the tree trunk as a rest for my back, I found a groove in the branch that allowed some form of comfort and closed my eyes. I let my mind drift on things like the comforts of home, but it was the chattering of teeth that brought me back to my senses. Meowth was watching me silently, his cat eyes glinting in the moonlight. He sat a careful distance away from me and shivered in the breeze, giving a sneeze. His fur was still wet from our adventure on the river.

I threw him an unsavoury glance. "Can't you shiver in silence?"

"S..s…sorry," Meowth looked deflated.

Those eyes were so wide… I suddenly found it so hard to ignore and finally, I heaved a sigh. "Alright, just this one night," I signalled for him to approach.

Meowth's face immediately lit up and he bounded over and landed neatly in my lap. He purred as he pawed at my leg and snuggled up into me.

"Comfortable?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes," Meowth purred.

I had to chuckle, sometimes he seemed so Human almost, and then there were times it was evident that he was only a Pokémon. I ran my fingers down the fur on his head, only making him purr louder. He squeezed his eyes tightly together and occasionally let out a soft sigh. I could only imagine what he was dreaming about, that was if Pokémon happened to dream.

"It must be wonderful, being so close to the Boss," he uttered which broke me from my thoughts.

I raised an inquiring eyebrow and he turned to look at me.

"Being the Boss's only daughter and all. I mean, you're his top Human."

I stifled an amused chuckle. "It's not as wonderful as it seems, Meowth. Trust me."

"But yer the one who's gonna get all of Team Rocket," argued Meowth.

"Nothing is set in stone, Meowth. I'm working up from the bottom. Only a limited amount of agents actually know who I am. So in other words, I'm just one of you guys."

Meowth seemed surprised at that but then a slow smile spread across his face; as though that information, which was generally classified, made him feel important in some way. He fell silent for a moment, contemplating the fact before humming and breaking that silence.

"So when you're Boss, will you have a top cat too?"

I smirked, giving him a good scratch behind the ears. "That depends."

"Depends?"

I nodded. "On how good you are."

* * *

We left our perch in the tree at daybreak and quickly backtracked to the river where some of our stuff had since washed up on the shore. Most of it was what had once been papers and charts of the area but now formed a mushy soup on the top of the river.

A container of food drifted aimlessly along the shoreline, but I could only assume that our camping gear had all sunk to the bottom.

"Are you s…sure that huge monster isn't still around?" Meowth cautiously treaded about the riverbank, making sure not to get his feet dirty in the mud.

I crouched on the water's edge, staring intently at the soggy rations that were meant to feed us for the coming days.

"Kair? Kairraaahhhh!" I spun at the cat who had since caught his foot on a string and tripped, landing face down in the mud.

The string in question was attached to a muddy lump.

"Stupid!" Meowth immediately scrambled to his feet and kicked at the lump.

I suddenly realised what it was. "My backpack."

Careful so as not to make Meowth's mistake, I trotted over to his position, pulling the slimy, filthy bag from the mud and spilling its contents on dryer ground. Fortunately, the thing was waterproof and its innards had sustained minimal water damage.

In it, I located Miyamoto's journal. "Excellent," I hissed, a smile reminiscent of my father's spreading across my face. "This is exactly what we need, Meowth."

Standing on his toes, Meowth glimpsed the old book over my shoulder. "What about the others? Shouldn't we be lookin' for them?"

I nodded, running a finger down an old sketch on the centre page. It was a map of sorts, leading to some sort of structure and next to it in a quick scrawl, Zerelda had recorded the global coordinates. Quickly rummaging about my stuff, I found my GPS and pressed in the coordinates.

They were wrong. They weren't even close to the mountain at all. In fact, the coordinates pointed to a place not far from where we were!

"What is it?" Meowth caught my expression. "What's goin' on?"

Ignoring him, I checked the journal again, my eyes running down what looked to be a mountain pass.

"Meowth, see this ridge running alongside?"

The cat nodded and I grabbed a pen, colouring it in so that it didn't appear to spike upwards like a mountain range. "It's not a ridge at all. It's the Amazon river."

"You mean that…?"

"The structure is here, in the jungle." I nodded. "Come on. Lets get moving."


	8. Pokemon Poachers

**Pokémon Poachers**

* * *

Meowth and I carefully made our way through the thick of the jungle, our only guide being the little red dot on the GPS screen. The location was only a matter of miles away but with our struggles through the giant net that was the jungle, what would have normally been an hour long journey turned into the entire morning!

Meowth sat perched on my shoulders, keeping half an ear out for the others as we made our journey. Though since we'd started it and the sun had risen, he found the heat of the morning exhausting and promptly fell into a light slumber.

It was the sharp edges of a structure peeping through the jungle vines in the distance that grabbed my attention suddenly. The GPS was bleeping, telling us that we had more or less arrived at our location, so hooking it back to my belt, I sped up my pace and quickly tromped the rest of the way through the underbrush.

The jungle at this point suddenly and unexpectedly seemed to recede into a clearing, as though an invisible barrier prevented the trees from growing any further. Here, the temple loomed before me untouched by the age of time. The stone building in itself was less than impressive compared to the mighty temples that dotted the Amazon rainforest. In fact, this one seemed more of a shrine than anything.

The tiny pyramid barely reached the treetops and lacked any form of decoration whatsoever. Its old stone walls showed next to no sign of decay either, making me wonder how old (or young) this temple really was.

"This is it?" Meowth on my shoulders heaved a yawn and stretched his arms. "I was expecting something a bit bigger."

"I know," I nodded. "Me too."

A single line of stairs led up to a small entrance that required me to duck my head to get through. Though to my surprise, on the inside the temple seemed so much bigger.

All it consisted of was a single chamber, its walls decorated with vast images of Pokémon only heard of in old legends.

"Wow!" Meowth commented, dropping from my shoulder to the floor. He trotted ahead of me, inspecting the walls with great wonder. "I see Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno! And…" his paw waved at a cat-like Pokémon that seemed to just drift in the air of the painting. Its colours had long washed away, but it was still very evident as to what it was.

"Mew," I said, "the Pokémon Zerelda was looking for."

I let my eyes wander and fall upon a big alter in the middle of the chamber. Well that was what I had originally assumed it to be. It was on a closer inspection that I came to realise what it really was. It was a sarcophagus, a tiny coffin only able to house a single type of Pokémon. Mew.

"Oh yes. Meowth!" I reeled, urgently signalling for the cat's attention. "This is what we're looking for."

Meowth helped me push the lid of the coffin away, coughing and sneezing at the dust that found its way up our noses. It took a moment for the dust cloud to clear before we saw it, the complete, mummified remains of the tiny feline Pokémon.

"Yes!" My grin was wide and hungry. "We found it!"

"It appears mostly in tact," mused Meowth, "With the exception of his paw." He attracted my attention to the stump of an arm on the body. "Who took his hand?"

Only the loud roar from outside the temple was able break me away from my excitement. Meowth and I both jumped upright, immediately pulling ourselves from our discovery. I grabbed the cat, diving into the shadows and edging my way along the wall to the exit. We weren't alone.

The giant beast roared, snarling and hissing. It was like nothing that I had ever seen before. It stood a good six ft tall and wore a giant helmet-like horn on its head that possessed several large spikes. Stationed upright on two hind legs reminiscent of my Feraligator, it stomped about and kicked at the dirt.

It was then that I noticed the subject of its distress as half a dozen men surrounded it with nets and spear guns. A tall and skinny man approached them from behind with his arms crossed.

"Careful now! You've got her cornered!" He watched on as what I could only assume to be his workers fired their spear guns, impaling the creature in the thigh.

The Pokémon let out a loud howl, hitting the ground as it found itself the target of multiple, steel nets.

"What's going on?" Meowth whispered as he watched on wide eyed.

I placed a gentle finger on his lip to shush him. "Poachers. If we stay hidden, they won't notice us." That was my plan; however, it was the attempted intervention by a familiar figure that disrupted things.

'BOOM!' the earth was shredded under the mighty force of a Dragonite's Hyperbeam which sent the poachers diving for cover in every direction. Its shadow appeared from above and circled the poachers, the air snapping as pockets of superheated electricity charged around them.

"Let that Rampardos go!" his voice bellowed over the commotion. I didn't need to look twice at the figure that jumped down off his dragon. Like a demon from the depths, his hair gleamed a fire red, a definite indicator of what he felt right then.

Men cowered and hurried for hiding behind their jeeps that I'd just noticed were parked hidden in the clearing's tree line. One man, however, seemed to muster up the courage to stand up to him. The tall and skinny one - their leader. His smirk was thin and crooked as he eyed the Dragon Master up and down. "Or you'll what? You'll get your Dragonite to blow us up?"

From my viewpoint, I could only see the back of Lance, but I could just imagine his eyebrow raising. His voice as this point went low and I couldn't understand fully what was said, but I could only assume it was something along the lines of "don't underestimate her power."

The tall thin man didn't seem too threatened however, which immediately set off the alarm bells in my head. He had something up his sleeve for just such an intervention. With a single flick of his wrist, he signalled his men forward, the spear guns they used on the Pokémon aimed at the Master and his Dragon.

"You plan on getting to all of us as once? My men aren't known for missing their targets."

Lance at this point shifted his weight from one foot to the other. I noticed one hand that was hidden from their view was on his belt, fingering another pokéball.

"Dragonite! Protect!" In a single motion, he ordered his dragon and at the same time threw his other pokéball up into the air.

In a great flash of red, Areodactyl burst from its ball only to find itself as well as the Dragonite and Lance protected by some kind of mighty, invisible shield. The men fired their guns, their spears and bullets doing nothing but bouncing off the Dragonite's protect attack.

The Areodactyl squawked, flying up high only to make a dive, flapping its wings at such a force that it sent the men and their jeeps rolling away, leaving only the tall thin man to face Lance alone.

The man's grin had since faded to a hard scowl. Dragonite dropped her Protect and Lance recalled his Areodactyl.

"I repeat, leave that Pokémon alone, pack up what is left of your equipment and leave."

The man seemed more determined not to listen to Lance's orders but it wouldn't be easy when his 'army' was now in tatters. "Alright," he said slowly, carefully. "How about I just take your friends instead?"

I suddenly felt the cold tip of a gun on the back of my head just as the shadow fell over me. A man's voice whispered in my ear, "If you even as much as scream, I'll blow your pathetic excuse for a brain out of your head, kid. Do you hear me?"


	9. Blasting off again!

**Blasting off again!**

* * *

"Great, how are we supposed to get out of this one?" Jessie growled under her breath. I could feel her fingernails scraping against my hand as we were both back to back and tied together. "How did we get into this mess, James?" She stared accusingly at he who sat by her side. James had a black eye and looked as though he'd seen better days.

Evening had settled in and the four of us sat hunched up on the ground in the centre of the poacher's base camp. No one was listening to us, they just sat around their campfire to our side and watched us, picking their teeth after a big dinner or tending to their many numerous injuries sustained compliments of Lance's Pokémon. Pokémon that had since been confiscated along with ours and Meowth.

The smells of the smouldering campfire combined with what was left of a roast hanging from a spit permeated the air and made me feel sick. My stomach twisted from the mix of hunger pains and the sickening lurch that seemed to hang around. Lance sat to my side with a serious look of concern on his face as he contemplated. I followed his glance to the source of his concern, a huge lump that was the Rampardos lay pinned under a giant net. It was nothing more than a shadow in the darkness that surrounded it, but every so often - if I watched it carefully enough - I saw its side rise and fall with its breathing motions.

"She's dying," Lance, noticing my inquiry mentioned sullenly. "Her breathing is slowing. I doubt she'll make it through the night."

"What type of Pokémon is it?" I asked more out of curiosity. "I've never seen one of those before."

Lance gave me a half smile, one that didn't reach his eyes. "Not many people have seen them before, they're supposed to be extinct."

"Extinct?" Jessie's ears suddenly perked up at that moment. "So you mean it's rare and valuable?" Her glance grew hungry and in that moment I knew she could think of nothing other than the idea of presenting one to the boss.

"Only a small few live in national parks scattered around the world," confirmed Lance. "You need to have a special training permit to own one."

"Let me guess, the same training permit that allows you to own an Areodactyl?" I mused to which Lance confirmed with a nod.

"I guess they don't care whether this one lives or dies," said James.

"I don't think they care if we live or die either, James," continued Jessie.

There was nothing we could do but wait until everyone in the camp was sleeping. Lance and I watched with intent as the young chap assigned to watch over us for the evening began to get drowsy. His eyes fluttered and he snorted, shifting on the dirt. He let out a sigh before briefly resting his head on the wall of a tent. Then with agonising slowness his eyes rolled back and his head fell. His soft snoring confirmed to us of his deep slumber.

I shot an inquiring glance at Lance whose face was once again in deep concentration, only this time he was focused on nothing. James gave a quiet start as the Dragon Master accidentally hit him in the back and it was then that I noticed he was in the process of breaking free of his bonds. A tiny pocket knife glinted in the moonlight, one that had obviously been missed when the poachers had searched him for weapons earlier. The ropes broke with ease and he quickly scrambled to his feet, suddenly alerting our watcher who had since slid to the ground in his sleep.

"Ah!" The kid barely got the time to start before he copped a face full of Lance's boot which sent him back into the ground, out cold.

The Dragon Master then turned, focusing his attention on us and setting us free. "Jessie, James, our Pokémon are being held in that tent in their balls. Go and get them. Kair, you come with me. Meet back here in two minutes."

I already knew where we were heading, which frustrated me because it deviated us from our attempted escape. The Rampardos was still breathing, but barely.

"Lance, why are we doing this? It will only slow us down," I hissed as he signalled me to lift one side of the net.

The sick Pokémon started to struggle but soon after settled when Lance placed a gentle hand on her snout and shushed her. "Its ok," he whispered to the beast. "We're here to save you. Now rest."

His soothing whispers somehow managed to lull her into a light slumber which then enabled us to quickly and easily pull the net away from her. Then we found that she was also shackled to iron pegs that had been driven into the ground.

Lance cursed under his breath, feeling around his pants for something. He discovered what he was looking for and pulled a peculiar, pink pokéball from his pocket. I recognised it immediately as a heal ball. Lance pressed it up against the Pokémon and all at once it vanished into the ball in a beam of red light.

By the time we made it back to our meeting spot, Jessie and James were already waiting for us with a sack full of Pokéballs.

"We couldn't resist, we had to take them all," Jessie beamed. "The Boss is going to love our little catch."

Shoving my way into the bag, I dug out what I thought were mine and quickly clipped them to my belt, Lance following through and the doing the same.

"Where's Meowth?" Lance asked, choosing to ignore the fact that we were technically stealing Pokémon belonging to the poachers.

Jessie gave a half-hearted shrug. "In there somewhere, no doubt."

We were wasting time. I went to move the others on when the shadow caught my attention as the figure stopped in his tracks, staring at us intently.

"Don't!" I hissed at the poacher, my hand immediately going to my belt but it was too late and I was too far away to stop him… he turned and bolted.

"Shoot!" Lance cursed, reeling on his heels. "Get into the jungle!"

The loud wail of an alarm burst the camp into a sudden frenzy just as we made it to the edge of the clearing. Figures dashed from their tents, donning clothes and shoving their way into boots.

"There they are! Get them!" I heard yells and dared catch a glimpse behind me of the figure that jumped about and pointed.

Poachers realised that their Pokémon were missing which in the end proved almost detrimental to our escape as they suddenly resorted to guns and jeeps. The jungle was so thick, that our escape was heavily hampered by vines and sharp branches that grabbed at our clothes and feet.

"This is useless!" James' squeal sounded from behind me as he struggled with the sack of pokéballs.

"Take to the sky!" I tore the pokéball from my belt, releasing my Charizard. "Flamethrower! Clear a hole in the canopy big enough to get us through!"

I covered my face with an arm at the heat of the Charizard's fire attack before getting onto his back. Lance was already on his Dragonite accompanied by Jessie.

"I don't have any flying Pokémon!" James squealed desperately as he tromped though the jungle behind me.

"Then get on, you idiot!" I yelled at him, pushing him into a quick stagger.

I grabbed the sack as he clambered on behind me, and in the sense of the Team Rocket motto, we blasted off out of there at the speed of light…


	10. Familiar Faces

**Familiar Faces**

* * *

It was barely sunup by the time we landed in a small city located on the outskirts of the Amazon jungle. Dirty and exhausted, the four of us staggered into a busy marketplace, searching desperately for water and a place to rest our heads. James leaned on his partner Jessie, rubbing his sore bottom - an after effect of not being accustomed to riding a Charizard bareback.

A Pokémon Centre was soon pointed out to us by one of the locals, but it was the loud shout from through the crowds that stopped us in our tracks.

"Miyamoto!" an old woman came staggering up to meet us from behind a market stall. Small with thinning silver hair and few teeth, she seemed unusually quick for someone visibly past her expiry date. "Miyamoto!" she called the name again, stopping only to grab a somewhat bewildered Jessie by the hand. "Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!" the old woman grinned.

"I…I'm sorry. But do I know you?" Jessie gingerly pulled her hand from the woman's grasp.

"You don't know me but I know you. I have been waiting for you. You are your mother's daughter."

"Well…I think any girl is her mother's daughter," said Jessie.

The woman gave a chuckle, her little eyes sparkling beneath the thick wrinkles that made up her eyelids. "You are Zerelda's girl."

I watched as in that moment the colour drained from Jessie's face. "Z…Z….Zerelda?" she stumbled over her words. "You….knew her?"

The woman nodded confidently, "oh yes, her story is an amazing one, her name a legend in this city as she came to us riding on the back of a bird Pokémon so amazing that it's wings reflected the sun's rays and brought rain, breaking a seven year drought. Your mother had been lost in the snow capped mountains. She was so ragged when the Pokémon brought her that she slept for days.

I cared for her in my home, and she came to be like another daughter to me. She stayed with my family for weeks, exploring the jungles around the city. But alas, only days before she was to leave us, she became very sick with a fever. I was not able to save her and by the end of the week, she had passed on. But before her passing, she told me that in time, you would come and when I saw you, I was to give you this."

From a sleeve she produced a small locket pendant, its effect on Jessie becoming immediate as she wobbled, her knees knocking together. It took James and me to stop her from falling over backwards.

"What is it Jessie?" I asked as she took the locket into hands that quivered.

"It's my mother's locket." Her gloves closed over the necklace and she pulled it close to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and fighting the tears that didn't want to stop.

"How did you know…" I focused my attention on the old woman only to realise she was gone.

* * *

I stepped from a steaming bathroom, heaving a weary sigh. The shower had long run out of hot water, but finally I was clean. The Pokémon Centre was quiet as the afternoon rolled in and a restful air seemed to take over the city at the heat of the day.

Wearing nothing but a towel, I made my way down the hallway to my allocated sleeping quarters. Finally in a state of rest, my body ached profusely and I had found bruises in places I didn't even realise hurt until then.

"Kair," Lance's call spun me on my feet as the redhead was on the approach. His uniform had since been replaced with a set of old trainer clothes compliments of the resident nurse.

"We need to talk." He only just seemed to realise that I lacked clothing as he gave a cough.

I opened the door to my allocated sleeping chambers and signalled him in. Shutting the door behind us, he stood with arms crossed as, with my back to him, I inspected the small pile of women's clothing I'd been provided and gave a distasteful smirk.

"I've just gotten word back from my superiors. It seems that Team Aqua is on the move. They're heading our way."

"That doesn't surprise me, I haven't checked in with them since we landed in Peru."

I dropped my towel, and ignoring his startled glance, shoved my way into light blue pants and a pink tank top that seemed far too 'little girl' for my taste.

Being the gentleman he was, he averted his gaze as I dressed. "They're here because of what we're supposedly looking for. It turns out they're more interested in genetics than I'd originally anticipated."

I raised an eyebrow.

"We can't let them get their hands on your discovery, Kair."

"Don't worry," I said, indignantly. "I'm not letting them have that Mew. Not when my father is offering a much higher price."

Lance frowned, blowing air from his nostrils. "Fossil or not, that thing poses as a danger to anyone wanting to perform 'research' on it for personal gain. That thing, if anything, needs to be in a museum."

I scoffed. "What use is it in a museum?"

I went to the door, but he stopped it with a hand.

"You're not getting this, Kair," his growl was low.

I spun only to find that he'd propped me up against the door, his face so close to mine that I could see my own reflection in his fiery eyes.

"Mew is a legendary Pokémon. It is said to contain the DNA of every Pokémon in existence in it. If you let your father start messing around with that, then…"

I pulled myself from his intense gaze by ducking under his arm and prying the door open. "Then what, Lance? We'll invent Pokémon stronger than yours?" I leered.

I left him in the room, storming the hallways until I came across the Pokémon Centre's front counter. The light to the emergency room was still on, indicating that the nurse was still hard at work on the Rampardos. Making my way to the phone, I punched in the number only available to those most trusted in Team Rocket and waited.

"Giovanni's office," the face of a woman who seemed too sweet to be working for Team Rocket appeared on the line. Brown hair lightly hung over brown eyes and a sweet smile rested on her face. "How can I help you?"

"I'm after Giovanni," I stated the obvious.

"He is in a meeting right now. Can I take a message?"

"Who is it?" she was interrupted by a familiar figure in a suit emerging from one of the conference rooms.

The woman spun, "Its…" she paused, glimpsing me again. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure of your ranking, agent."

I didn't see his face, but I knew from his standpoint that he could see me.

"I'll take this in my office, Delia."

The woman nodded and the screen went blank for a few moments before my father's face appeared. He sat back in his chair, swirling a glass of drink in his hand. "You have something for me?" he questioned.

"I've found the location of an intact mummified Mew in the jungle." I told him of our adventures, though excluded certain details that would otherwise cost one Dragon Master his life. If anything, Lance had to be thankful for the fact that I wasn't the 'snitching' type.

"Excellent," his response was brief but full of possibility. "Ditch the Team Aqua act. I want you back here ASAP. I'll send a jet to meet you at the airport."

Figures entering the building caught my attention but I paid them little regard until I felt the shadow standing over me to my side. The hand quickly grabbed the phone receiver from my grasp and I spun, only able to see the stubbled face of Archie before the receiver slammed into the back of my head. I hit the ground dazed, and watched him put the cracked receiver to his mouth.

"You want to see your daughter again? You'll meet me at the main shipyard in Slateport city, Hoenn. Noon sharp in two days."

That was the last thing I remembered before the spinning world around me disappeared…


	11. Venom

**Venom**

* * *

It was like a miniature explosion in my brain… fireworks. I felt the piercing flame of a headache as I slowly came around, only just becoming aware of the figures that stood around me.

"Uhhh…" I heaved a hapless moan and went to touch the sore spot on my head only to find that my hands were invariably bound behind my back. I was sitting upright, propped up in a metal chair and trapped in a cold, dark room that resembled the inside of a freezer.

"Good, welcome back to the land of the living, girly." His stubble ridden grin hovered about my head only to be superseded by the stench of cheap rum on his breath.

I mustered up a swallow and licked my lips that were dry and cracked "What the hell do you want with me?"

The face disappeared into the dark void that was above my head and arms crossed on a torso that demonstrated the fitness of a seasoned sailor. Archie chose not to answer me, he merely flicked a wrist and before I knew it, a nervous little man in a white lab coat skittered in. In his hand he held a syringe that oozed with some sort of clear serum.

"The formula is ready?" Archie turned his attention to the scientist.

The scientist gave a weary nod, clearly torn by the situation he found himself in and his own ethics. "This is the harvested ability in its purest form. There is a good possibility that the Human body will reject it, it could kill her."

Archie seemed unfazed. "But you said you needed a Human host whose physique is in prime shape. That leaves us two options, her or me. And you do not want to see me suffer those side effects."

The scientist nodded, swallowing. "I need to see the effect of the drug on the Human specimen before I can refine the formula. This is for science." His face fell on me as he attempted to reassure himself.

Still suffering the effects of a telephone to my head, there was little resistance I could put up as he found a tender spot on my arm and wiped it with an alcohol swab. I attempted to wriggle free, snapping at his fingers but soon felt the rough hands of the Team Aqua Boss curl around a large tuft of my hair and wrench my head back.

"Arhhh!" I yelled, suddenly feeling the prick of the needle as it made its way into my arm.

Then the coldness… as though he was injecting ice into my veins, it went up through my arm, numbing every part of my body that it touched.

"Her heart is racing already," two fingers pressed nimbly on the thumping pulse in my wrist.

A flash of light exploded in my head, the rushing of purples, yellows and greens…

I felt myself twitching… having no control over my body… the chair tipped and suddenly I was on the floor and like a Magikarp, I lurched, flapped and flailed.

Then there was nothing…

* * *

"_She's out cold," the scientist confirmed, shining a torch into her eyes and checking her pulse. "But still alive."_

_Archie seemed disappointed as he scowled and scraped the vomit from his boot. She'd thrown up all over the floor in her convulsions. "How long do you think it'll be before we get a result?" _

"_I'm not sure. A few hours? Another day perhaps?"_

_Archie cursed. "We don't have another day; we've got an exchange to make in 17 hours."_

_Satisfied that she wasn't dead the scientist seemed to gain his confidence once again. "Well at least she's alive. I am curious, if she had died, then how would you have made the exchange possible?"_

_Archie gave him a satisfied grunt as he was already two steps ahead of him. "What makes you think she'll still be alive to make the exchange?"_

_He dismissed the scientist before turning to two of his agents who stood silently in the doorway, awaiting their cleanup orders._

"_Get her to the lab."_

"_Yes Sir," they saluted officially, not dropping their poses until the boss was out of the room. _

"_I'll get the girl, you clean up the puke," said one grunt to the other. _

_The other didn't agree with that arrangement however as he bucked. "Hell no, I don't get paid enough to do that. You clean it up!"_

_The first grunt heaved a sigh, shaking his head slowly. Negotiations had failed. The second one didn't even see the metal pole until it made contact with his face and he fell, face first in the pile of vomit. _

_Lance pulled the Team Aqua bandana from his head, using it to wipe the vomit from Kair's mouth and pulled her upright into his arms. He checked her vitals, before slinging her over one shoulder and walked on out… _

* * *

THUMP…. THUMPTHUMP…. THUMP…. THUMPTHUMP… like a loud drum in my head, the beating persisted.

Dreams and images floated through my subconscious. Voices and flashes of light combined to make one rhythmic pattern.

I felt something warm and gentle touch my face, checking my eyes and listening to my breathing.

THUMP…. THUMPTHUMP…. THUMP…. THUMPTHUMP…

"She's coming around," a faceless voice announced, breaking the rhythm and guided my mind back to reality.

I let my eyes slide open to a blinding whiteness and squinted, the pain in my head even more intense now. Rather than just a fire, it felt like an immense pressure. Like something heavy was attempting to force its way into my headspace.

The friendly face of a man in scrubs watched over me, his smile greeting me back into the world.

"Welcome back, Miss Yu," he whispered. "What a trip you've been on."

"Uhhh," seemed all that I was able to muster up at the time.

"Take it easy, you've been in an induced coma for the past few days till we could flush your system of the toxin. You're very lucky to be here." His face glanced over me to another presence by my side. "It'll take a few moments to adjust, so just be patient. She's all yours." And he left.

"How are you feeling? _You look terrible_."

I gave him a half smile, letting my eyes adjust to the fire that was his hair and the empathy on his face. "I feel like a junkie."

Lance smirked, "That's not far from the truth, what with the stuff you had running through your body."

It took me a few moments further to muster up another sentence. "And what was that, exactly?"

_The pure DNA of a Mew, it's a miracle you're not dead._ Lance shrugged. "I'm not sure but whatever it was, it was a dangerous and soon to be an illegal substance." It was so strange… his voice it… seemed to change from an audible tone to an echo in my mind, an echo that seemed to well up in me feelings of concern and worry.

"Where am I?" I questioned, confused by his contradictions.

"You're in a private medical facility owned by the PGM."

"PGM?"

"Pokémon G-Men: the people I work for. This is actually more or less a facility for mistreated Pokémon but it does serve people too. But you need more rest. I'll be back later when you regain your strength."

I don't recall what was said after that if anything at all… because it wasn't until much later when the daylight began to dim that I woke suddenly with a start, completely unaware that I'd fallen back to sleep.

Lance was now gone and the room much darker as the curtains had been drawn. Had that been a dream before? I wasn't sure. But I was awake now, and full of energy. I sat up in the hospital bed, taking in my bearings as I realised I was alone in the room. To my left were an observation window and a door - locked no doubt - then to my right a chair and a window. On the chair sat two pokéballs that I immediately recognised as being my own. These were accompanied by another fresh set of clothes that better suited my tastes.

I went to move from the bed when I felt the sharp prick of a needle in my arm and realised I was attached to a drip. This I hesitantly pulled from my arm and threw aside, then jumping down from the bed, I quickly dressed. I clipped the pokéballs to my belt and opened the window, seeing that I was several stories up in a city of sorts, possibly; given the architecture, one in Johto. It was then that the doctor stepped into the room, screaming for me to stop.

I didn't think twice, I stepped up onto the window sill and jumped…


	12. Dangerous Liaisons

**Dangerous Liaisons**

* * *

Charizard flew on through the night, wings flapping, chest heaving, heart pumping. He was a dragon of true magnificence and power, trained to the peak of his abilities, he took no notice of the fact that I sat crouched upon his back. My feet hung down over his shoulders and my hands were gently placed on either side of his neck. All it took was a single tap for him to change direction and this he did with ease.

I scanned the streets below us, we were flying over a suburb of sorts, this I knew, but where we actually were still eluded me. I scanned the area for a Pokémon Centre but eventually concluded that the only one around was back in the city we'd just come from.

"Kair, over here!" the voice was sudden and unexpected, instantly snapping me from my thoughts and startling Charizard from his concentration.

Without a sound, the blur of a Dragonite and her Master flew by us and circled us. "Where are you going? You weren't discharged yet. You need to get back to the clinic," Lance called despite knowing that I had no intention of listening to him.

"I'm fine," I snapped.

"Then why are you flying around in circles?"

"I'm trying to find my bearings," I said a little more irritated this time.

"If you won't go back, then will you at least follow me to a safer spot for the night? Charizards aren't known for seeing well in the dark." He did have a point, and whether I wanted to admit it or not, his Dragonite was more than capable of outflying my Charizard at any time of the day.

I gave him the raise of an eyebrow, what was his game?

"Alright…" I said with more confidence than I felt to which the Dragon Master responded with a smile and a shrug.

"Come on, this way."

* * *

Heading back towards the city which I eventually concluded to be Goldenrod, we soon found ourselves hovering over a large hotel in the business sector. 'The Golden Lapras' in great yellow-gold letters displayed over an exquisite gothic archway. It was in front of this that we landed, withdrawing our tired Pokémon back into their balls. By now an evening mist had settled in, which made an attempt at drenching everything in its path including us.

I followed Lance's lead through the front door, which was held open for us by a stiff faced attendant who looked as though he'd been there since the beginning of time. Then passing a lovely gold-plated front desk we made our way into a lounge/bar accessible to hotel guests only.

"Good evening Master Drake. Your usual table I presume?" there we were greeted by the evening host… a tall and skinny man with a slimy, salesman smile though a nice contrast to the stiff at the front door.

"Not tonight. My friend and I would like to just sit by the fire for a bit if that's alright."

The man eyed me and my less than formal attire but nodded nevertheless, "this way."

Leading us to a quiet place in the lounge, he guided me to a high-backed armchair and handed me a glass of red wine. A wide open fire crackled and rolled before us, bringing much welcomed heat to our chilled bones.

For a moment neither one of us spoke, we just watched the fire, swirling the drink in our glasses.

"So," I finally said, breaking the lingering silence and starting up conversation. "Pokémon G-Men, do they pay well?"

Lance's eyebrow rose. "They're paying for my stay here, if that's what you mean."

I gave an approving nod, "This looks like the sort of place my father would stay… on _business_ trips… you know," I smirked and he caught my drift.

To the public eye Giovanni was a very strong influence in the business world. The crime lord had fingers dabbling in practically every industry conceivable. If you had an idea and no money to pursue it… all you needed was to sell your soul to the Team Rocket leader and he would make sure things happened.

"Your father is a dangerous man," Lance commented. "Team Rocket is an organization I would love to see lick the dust."

"It's served me fine," I shrugged to which Lance replied to with a snort.

"That's because you're untouchable."

He did have a point, and for some reason it bothered me. My gaze averted back down to the red liquid in my glass. "Not by choice."

"Everyone has a choice."

I glanced back at the Dragon Master who now watched me, his stare one of fascination and intensity - as though he had wanted to tell me something for a while.

"That night when your father was holding me in the warehouse," he said finally. "You managed to convince my own Dragonite to help you. That Dragonite is the strongest Pokémon I have - the strongest in the entire Elite," he paused. "The funny thing is that before you, she answered to no one but me."

I chuckled at the memory, "If I recall correctly, it wasn't until after I received a good butt kicking. She put up a fight, but then realised it was the wiser option to trust me."

Lance nodded, smiling to himself. "She didn't need to trust you. She most likely could have worked out a way to find me regardless. Dragons don't naturally trust Humans, we have to earn it and it can take many years at that… But she chose to trust you. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were more suited to a life of Dragon Mastery than one of crime." He left his comment open to interpretation.

I could only laugh at the thought, because we both knew my Pokémon training ethics left a lot to be desired.

"Maybe I could teach you," he continued. "You can become my student. I know a lot of great Pokémon trainers who take on students. You have the skill, you have the strength and stamina. You just need direction, that's all."

I smirked, sitting back in my seat and crossing my legs, the amusement on my face turning to a cocky grin. "You only say that because I'm probably the only person in the world stupid enough to refuse such an offer."

Lance's grin spread wide. "You're probably right," he laughed before just then a thought crossed his mind and his mouth snapped shut. "But you've already received training haven't you."

I kept my cocky grin, though all it took was the uneasy twitch of my eyebrow for him to realise he'd just hit something.

"You have," he confirmed. "Who?"

"What?" I defended.

"Who trained you? You've got the body and agility of a master of arts. You can't expect me to believe you taught yourself."

"I don't know," I admitted honestly.

Lance's eyes scrunched. "What do you mean you don't know?"

And I shrugged, "It was a long time ago. I was only ten when I finished my training. All I remember of those days was that I lived alone with my trainer; a woman. We lived on an island. I grew up there, performing exercises day and night…"

The dials were ticking in the Dragon Master's head as he pieced an invisible puzzle together in his mind. "Sa'lu," his whisper was barely audible but undeniable.

"Yes." I was genuinely shocked to hear that name again. "But how do…?"

There was a long pause as he seemed to think it through for a moment before shaking his head and figuratively shaking off his thought. "Sa'lu was a great master. Probably the greatest. She held my position in the Elite Four for many years before she supposedly retired." His eyes turned back on me, hiding his thoughts with a smile, and I realised right then that he knew something about my past that I didn't. "I thought I recognised your methods from somewhere."

Gradually as the evening passed the fire died and people left the lounge and headed back up to their rooms. The bottle of wine we shared produced its last drop, indicating to us that it was about time we did the same.

Lance chose to use his company card to purchase me a room for the night and we made our way to the elevator. He accompanied me to my door - which was only across the hall from his room, and handed me the key. And there we stood… again lingering as if more needed to be said but neither knew what to say…

I don't know if it was me or the wine talking but he stood so close that suddenly our lips were touching and much to my surprise, he made no attempt at pulling away. His hands came to my face, returning the kiss with force. I soon found myself pressing into him, my fingers tracing the creases of his uniform beneath his cape. His hands moved down to my neck, then to my waist where there he held me, guiding me up against the door. He found the tender spot on my neck and there was nothing I could do but let him take it. I fumbled with the door knob, as if in some sort of feeble attempt not to let myself be carried away by this, but it was too late. Before we knew it, we entered in through the door, letting it gently swing shut on its hinges.


	13. Benched

**Benched**

* * *

I was floating… drifting in a world above our own. Brilliant colours shot by me like falling stars. Creatures of all kinds joined me here, Pokémon of every sort from the lowliest of grub right up to the mighty Zapdos… they were all here, drifting with me in this strange place.

Then a Pokémon I had never seen before… alive. Mew. The pink little feline floated only centimetres from my head, twisting and spiralling. Its large, blue eyes watched me… examined me. And I soon became aware of the fact that I was a stranger in their midst.

A giant bubble began to form between me and Mew, expanding and growing at such a speed that I couldn't avoid it as it completely engulfed me. It was taking me up and up, high into the sky, the earth soon becoming nothing more than a mere dot.

Mew was with me, watching me from outside my bubble. It spoke to me in a voiceless whisper. _You are not meant to be here…_

I tried to stop it. I tried screaming out but not a sound escaped. And with a single tap of its paw there was a: Pop!

I jolted awake, suddenly aware of the sunrise that came streaming in through the window, bathing me in sunlight… but how did I get here?… and where was here at that?

I was naked, of that I was sure…

I lay on my side, staring at the empty spot on the other side of the bed and just then my mind caught up.

I sat up, pulling the sheets to my chest, spying the figure that stood alone on the balcony, wearing only his trousers. He held a coffee in one hand as he watched the sunrise. The brilliant mop on his head caught ablaze in the light - its messy, nest-like appearance left nothing to the imagination as to what we'd gotten up to the night before.

Noticing my movement, he turned and watched me slip from the bed, bringing the sheet with me. Lance smiled at me as I joined him on the balcony and offered me coffee to which I declined. My stare fell upon his figure, tracing the lines of his magnificent torso that now seemed to read like an open book to the eyes of its beholder - scars and all.

"Did you sleep?" he asked me, sipping his coffee.

"Like a Snorlax," I admitted, following his gaze over a mountain range that stretched out before the city. "Of all the ocean front rooms you could have chosen and you chose the mountains?"

Lance nodded, giving me a lazy smile. "The mountains are where I'm from and what I'm fond of. So I guess… it's like I'm waking up to home."

I turned my focus back on the hotel suite which was more or less one room… one very large room with an adjoining bathroom that I suspected would be just as oversized. On the floor there was a trail of our clothes that led up to the bed, but it was the corner of a note strategically placed under the front door that caught my attention.

Lance beat me to it, coming up from behind and plucking it from the floor. It was a sealed envelope bearing the hotel insignia and my name… my real name.

"Aisha?"

He would have figured the staff had the wrong door but my careless reaction stated otherwise. I went to grab it from his hands but he quickly pulled it from my reach, almost causing me to collide with him.

I pulled back, eyeing him off carefully. "Yes, my real name is Aisha. If you were paying any attention when I challenged you at the League you would have realised that."

The Dragon Master blinked, "Back then I was more focused on the fact that you were attempting to steal my Dragonite."

I quickly ripped the letter from his hands and tore it open, hungry to read its contents. Though I already knew who it was from, the message it contained was not something I was expecting. My father was here… and he was waiting for me down stairs.

My blood ran cold. If he was here… then he had to know what I'd been up to.

I dressed quickly, casting a warning glance at Lance to get away from this place as quickly as possible, before making my way down stairs.

The lounge was empty at such an hour… with the exception of agents bearing the familiar red R on their chests that stood strategically located at all entrances. A man and his Persian sat alone in the lounge - in the very chair I occupied only the night before. Ring laden fingers tapped lightly on the Persian's head as he watched an empty fireplace; awaiting my approach.

I stopped barely within arms length of his seat, just enough to notice the look on his face as one more of contemplation than the seething anger he was better known for.

"I trust you're doing well now?" his question lacked meaning.

"Yes," I answered.

"Excellent." He stood, fixing his jacket and casting me a light smile that hardly reached his eyes. "The helicopter is waiting."

* * *

"How did you know to find me here?" I watched the man called my father from my seat. He had a laptop on his knee which he tapped at insistently. Neither of us took note of the scenery below us that flashed past at an alarming speed as we crossed the borders into Kanto.

"An informant mentioned you spent some time in the PGM rehab centre after taking on what has been officially filed as an unknown substance. I followed the paper trail to the hotel."

He didn't mention Lance, which either meant he had special plans for the soon to be doomed Dragon Master or he didn't know as much as he thought he did.

For Lance's sake… and mine, I hoped it was the latter.

"You're heading to the lab for testing."

"What?" I reeled. "They told me I was flushed of the substance."

"That is yet to be confirmed."

I scoffed, "I'm fine."

"If you know what's good for you, Aisha, you'll do what you're told." His growl was dangerous; one that told me it was wise not to push the matter.

I squinted, "You think what Archie gave me was some sort of performance enhancer, don't you."

Giovanni said nothing which only confirmed my suspicions.

"I'm not going to be another one of your lab experiments."

"You'll be whatever I see fit. And for the moment, you're benched."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I just wanted to thank everyone for your awesome comments! They really encourage me to keep this fic going… and I gotta admit, I'm having a blast writing it!

Well this concludes Volume 2… I know it sort of ends on a strange note, but fear not, Volume 3 (which is called 'The World is Changing') is already up!

Looking forward to seeing you there :)


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